Thursday, September 15, 2016

Why Use Microscope Immersion Oil?

When light passes from a material of one refractive index to another (for example: from glass to air), it bends. When using the 100x oil immersion objective without immersion oil, light is being lost when it passes from the glass slide, through the air, to the glass objective lens. In short, the light is bending, resulting in a microscopy image that is less crisp and clear than if immersion oil were being used with that same lens.